by Linda Stewart Henley

Writers are often asked to name the genre that best fits their book. Sometimes that’s easy. Non-fiction doesn’t need to be genre-specific. However, fiction writers often have a decision to make. Typical categories include general fiction, historical fiction, thriller, memoir, romance, mystery (cozy or murder), science fiction, fantasy, and paranormal.

Sometimes books cross genres. A book may be best described as a mystery, but it may include a romance or fantasy. Or both. To further complicate matters, book award contests invite authors to submit their work in one or more categories, so the same book can win a prize in more than one.

Having written books in two different genres, I can talk a little about some differences. My first book Estelle would be classified primarily as historical fiction. Since the subject-matter concerned the Impressionist painter Edgar Degas, I needed to research the artist’s life during the time-period of my story, the five months in 1872-73 when he visited his Creole relatives in New Orleans. Historical fiction appeals to many partly because it can bring real people to life. In some ways, writing in this genre is easier because there’s already a framework of events in place that can guide the plot. To prepare for writing Estelle, I made a careful time-line of events during that period. I included the important known facts and filled in the unknown details from my imagination. One of the biggest challenges I faced was in deciding how much liberty to take when writing about the lives of real people.  

Waterbury Winter falls into the general category of contemporary fiction. The beauty of writing pure fiction is that anything goes—anything that fits believably into the story, anyway. So I made up the character of Barnaby Brown, an artist who has lost his way. I wanted to keep the tone of the book upbeat, so although at the beginning Barnaby has a host of problems to overcome (a drinking habit, debts, his lonely life with only his parrot for company), I wanted to make him a sympathetic character and bring in some humor. This book was far easier to write, partly because my goal was simply to write a good story. In writing about Degas, I wanted to tell a tale that many people didn’t know. No one needed to know about Barnaby Brown, and I didn’t need to pay too much attention to history. However, readers will learn a little about the brass industry in Waterbury, Connecticut, when they read the book.

Just for the record, Estelle won a few awards. The categories?  Romance, art, and historical fiction.

Linda Stewart Henley is the author of Estelle and Waterbury Winter, published by She Writes Press.